


Poolside

by melliejellie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Flirting, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Neighborhood Pool AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-11 13:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melliejellie/pseuds/melliejellie
Summary: Tsukishima takes the kids he's babysitting to the pool in the morning to pass the time. Too bad there's some crazy-haired loudmouth with great abs who ruins the whole thing with his cackling and the way he makes Tsukishima sweat from more than just the sun.





	Poolside

The community pool brings back lots of memories for Tsukishima. Playing Marco Polo with Akiteru. Sunburns. Swimming competitions. Sunburns. Diving lessons from the big kids. More sunburns.

But it's a great way to get paid to waste three hours with the two kids he's babysitting this summer. For three days a week he watches a family friend's two kids. He's been doing it for four summers now. He thought it might be weird now that he just finished his first year at university, like he’s too old for his mostly easy summer gig, but if anything the kids are cooler now and it’s gotten better. Ryouta and Haruto are now eleven and eight and they're much more interested in his "cool" taste in music and asking what college is like.

Sometimes Tsukishima swims, even he needs to cool off occasionally or correct the boys’ poor diving form, but mostly he reads. They go in the morning, before it’s too hot, and leave by lunch. Tsukishima gets the exact same chair most of the time. It’s the best because the placement of the chair and the umbrella over it ensures that his body is in full shade until they leave. He still lathers on his 90+ sunscreen and reapplies it religiously while the boys swim and scream with their neighborhood friends.

He’s made it through several books already this summer, blissfully none of them school-related, but lately his progress has been slowed by the recent introduction of two of the loudest people he’s ever had the unfortunate opportunity to stumble across.

There’s a guy about his height with stupid hair and an obnoxious laugh. He brings a boy about half his height who looks a bit like him and who was quiet, nearly silent, at first but is now cackles just as loud as the man who brings him to disturb Tsukishima’s summer reading paradise. 

The worst part of it is that everyone loves them. The kids love the loudmouth’s made up games, including Ryouta and Haruto, and even the adults are starting to get in on the action.

The only saving grace is that the man is nice to look at. He’s got to be some sort of athlete. From behind his sunglasses or from under his baseball cap, Tsukishima will watch him peel off his shirt before he jumps in the pool, a strong chest and fine abs on display in the summer sun. And when he climbs out, those strong back muscles and biceps working hard to pull him up, well, Tsukishima’s not blind.

Even if he ruins it all with his dumb mouth.

For the past two weeks their interactions have been minimal - thank you, universe.

A neighborly nod hello and one returned, because Tsukishima was taught to have good manners.

A welcoming wave to join in a game. A polite shake of the head, no.

A friendly wave because they've seen each other for several days now. A small wave in return.

Then yesterday, there was the first verbal "hey” and a deadpan "hey" back.

Tsukishima can admit that his voice is nice when it's not screaming or cackling.

Too bad that's all he's ever doing. 

Once his shirt is off, always an enjoyable show, the loudmouth cannonballs into the water and gets some ridiculous game going. The spell of attraction is broken. It was nice while it lasted. 

Tsukishima returns to his book, wishing he could put in headphones to cover up the yelling but knowing he can’t because, for some reason, an actual adult trusts him to make sure his kids don’t drown so he supposes he actually has to listen for that.

He finally manages to reabsorb himself in the fiction book he’s reading over the sounds of the pool. It’s getting good when a shadow crosses over his page and lingers. Tsukishima looks up, expecting it to be one of the kids he’s responsible for, but it’s the crazy-haired idiot staring down at him.

Wet. Muscles. Close. Very close. Tsukishima curses his hormones.

“Hey glasses, we need one more not-kid so the teams are even. Could you play?”

“No.” He says and turns back to his book.

“Please? The kids really want to play and the mom that plays with us just had to go with her kids, so now it’s all uneven.”

Tsukishima glances up and his eyes catch on the expectant faces all staring at him from the pool, including Ryouta and Haruto. Sighing, he carefully sets his bookmark into his book, places it back in his bag, and says, “Fine. I’m not a monster.”

“Yes!” The loudmouth pumps his fist and the small crowd in the pool cheers. Once Tsukishima stands up from the chair, the man launches into an excitable explanation. “So it’s marco polo and volleyball together. You can use your eyes until you come into contact with the ball. Then you gotta close ‘em. Honor system. We check. If they’re open, that’s a foul and you get a penalty.” As he talks, he waves his hands around wildly like he’s actually playing as he speaks.

“How old are you?” Tsukishima asks sarcastically.

“Twenty. Now when you have the ball, you have to shout ‘marco’ and then your team will all shout ‘polo’ so you know where to toss it. No spiking. Taka got smacked in the face really hard yesterday and his mom got mad so no more spiking.”

There’s several more rules thrown his way and Tsukishima only half-listens before loudmouth is jumping into the pool as Tsukishima makes his way in down the steps in the shallow end.

For the first few rounds he just watches. He figures as long as the ball doesn’t come to him, he won’t actually have to do anything. He sees the way Ryouta and Haruto are really into it, though. When Haruto catches the ball, Ryouta screams “polo” at the top of his lungs and his brother does his best to toss it to him. The kids play hard together, but weirdly, so do the adults. Parents, aunts, uncles, nannies all closing their eyes and screaming for tosses so they can try their hand at scoring.

But he can’t avoid the ball forever. The brightly colored beach ball comes straight for him and he catches it out of instinct. He closes his eyes like the rules demand, feeling stupid the whole time, and says “marco” in a not-screaming definitely normal tone of voice. The “polo”s come right after, but he can only make out one because it’s the voice he’s been unable to ignore for weeks. He tosses it in the direction of the crazy-haired man and snaps open his eyes as soon as the ball leaves his hands.

Loudmouth catches it with a victorious shout and tosses it to a mom who scores against the team with two of her own kids on it. 

To his complete surprise, he doesn’t hate it. Yes, he can feel the sun beating down on his skin and prays his sunscreen holds up. Yes, people keep bumping into him. But it’s not that bad. As he continues playing, there’s a part of him that really likes stealing the ball from a group of kids and scoring on their end. It’s not a part of him he’s proud of, but - no, nevermind. It’s hilarious. Plus the kids are vicious. Ryouta and Haruto included.

Loudmouth is like some self-proclaimed team captain. He shouts orders that Tsukishima ignores until one time when he finally listens, mostly just out of exasperation, and finds they actually make a good team. Though that could be because, even with his eyes closed, stupid-hair’s voice carries above everyone else’s.

Half-way through the game, Tsukishima starts shouting back orders of his own. He expects some retort, but instead loudmouth flashes him a winning grin that makes Tsukishima’s heart beat loud in his ears. He blames the physical exertion.

After it’s done, Tsukishima slips back out of the pool before anyone can talk to him.

But he’s not fast enough.

“You played well.” A now-familiar voice calls behind him.

Tsukishima spins around, smirks. “Not saying much. It’s a ridiculous made up game.”

Stupid-hair sets both hands on his hips. Tsukishima tries not to look at the water droplets gathering just above his hips. “Don’t sell yourself short, glasses.”

Tsukishima clicks his tongue. “That’s not my name.”

The other man gives a smirk of his own, his eyes narrowing. “Then what is your name?”

Tsukishima turns around, ready to settle back into his chair. “No thanks.” He sits and he doesn’t look back up. 

“Well, mine’s Kuroo. See you tomorrow, glasses.”

***

The next day Tsukishima packs his goggles in the bag he takes to the pool. Not that he’s planning on definitely swimming, just that if he does he wants to protect his eyes from the chlorine, that’s all. Yesterday he had to keep putting in eyedrops that stung and he’d rather not do that this evening when he finally gets back home.

The kids run right towards the pool when they get there, despite Tsukishima’s constant warnings not to do exactly that, and they run right towards a familiar pair already playing in the pool. Crazy-hair… Kuroo greets them with high fives and so does the younger boy with him.

Right after he gets his own high fives, Kuroo spins his head, scanning the pool side. Tsukishima pretends not to notice when Kuroo’s eyes settle on his. He turns and continues putting down his things on his usual chair, taking more time than usual to put everything down and keep his back to the pool.

“Hey glasses!” He hears right behind him.

He doesn’t turn. “Still not my name.”

“Still haven’t told me. So, before you get all comfy, wanna play again? There’s not as many people but it could still be fun.”

He did bring his goggles. And Ryouta and Haruto are looking over at him with pleading looks on their faces. Tsukishima stands up tall, squares his shoulders, “fine, but only for a bit.”

Kuroo looks surprised. “Oh, alright. Awesome.”

Tsukishima tries not to think about how good he looks when he smiles. That’s easy to do once Tsukishima takes out his goggles, carefully replacing his glasses on his face.

“What are those?” Kuroo shrieks, stifling laughter.

“Should be obvious.”

“Alright,” but it’s clear in his tone that he thinks they’re anything but alright.

“They’re to protect my---” Tsukishima clicks his tongue, “whatever.”

“What? I like ‘em. They’re cute. Just gonna have to call you goggles now.”

Tsukishima groans as he steps in front of Kuroo to get to the pool, pushing past him quickly so he can momentarily hide what being called “cute” by the owner of so many toned muscles temporary did to him.

They play a game with just a few people, a couple of kids, some parents. Tsukishima’s on the same team as Ryouta and Haruto. They seem delighted with the fact that “too cool” Tsukishima is hanging out with them again and it’s hard to deny that it puts a smile on his face, too.

Until Haruto smacks his face against a ladder when his eyes are closed and he’s yelling out “marco!”

Tsukishima rushes over to check on him. It’s a split lip. He hit the rung of the ladder at just the wrong spot. The cut is small, but clearly it stings. Tsukishima helps him out of the pool and guides him over to sit out for a bit so the boy can have a few tears in private if he needs them. He does. Haruto holds a the paper towel that Tsukishima got for him against his lip then stuffs his face into his towel and lies down on the chair next to him.

Tsukishima gets out a water bottle and sets it beside him for when he’s done feeling upset. He turns to his book but doesn’t have time to open it.

“You alright, bud?” Kuroo pads over on wet feet, looking down at Haruto.

The kid shakes his head ‘yes’ but doesn’t get out from behind the towel.

“Well we’ll see ya back out there when you’re better, yea? Take your time.”

Tsukishima expects Kuroo to turn back to the pool, but instead he takes a few steps then plops down on the chair on the other side of Tsukishima.

He’s not under the umbrella. He’s out on the full sun and Tsukishima hates that the first thing his brain thinks is, “glistening.” Kuroo leans back on his forearms behind him, tilts his head back, all toned chest and abs on display. Not that Tsukishima’s staring.

He’s absolutely staring. He’s not even sure he’s blinked. He swallows hard.

Kuroo’s head tilts back down. He meets Tsukishima’s gaze and smirks.

Caught.

Tsukishima looks down at his closed book. “Thanks for checking on him.”

“No problem. No fun when you bust yourself in front of your bros.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Tsukishima doesn’t move and he hasn’t looked back up. He forces himself to. “Don’t you need to get back out there?”

“Nah, he’s good.” Kuroo replies, waving to the kid he’s always with. The kid waves back. He’s playing with Ryouta and a couple of other kids, taking charge of Kuroo’s game. “It’s good to see him playing with other kids without me now. He’s my cousin - just moved here - super shy - I get it. We kept coming here so he’d make some neighborhood friends. Happy he did.”

Tsukishima thinks that’s an oddly sweet thing for the wet, muscly loudmouth to say. He’s not sure what to say, but Kuroo sure seems to.

He lays back on the chair, half under the umbrella, half not and chats about his college, his friends, his extended family that just moved into the area. Tsukishima catches himself slipping effortlessly into the conversation. He waits for it to feel awkward, like most interactions, but it’s not. Kuroo demands comfort with his easy-going nature. Before he knows it, he’s talking about his major, about surviving his first year at university, about his summer job.

“So how’d you get stuck babysitting?” Kuroo asks. His chair is now completely flat and he’s lying down with his t-shirt lying across his face to protect from the sun. Tsukishima doesn’t know why he doesn’t just scoot over a few inches to have some shade.

“I’m not really stuck. I chose it. Well, not the first summer, but once I realized I made more than my friends who work at restaurants and stores over the summer so that I could eat someone else’s chips and sit on their couch, I kept it going.”

Kuroo laughs. “Those are good reasons if I’ve ever heard ‘em. Plus the kids seem to like you.”

“No idea why.”

“I have some idea.” The comment sits in the air between them and Tsukishima doesn’t have some witty retort ready so he just sits there, still looking at the cover of his book. By now Haruto’s already hopped off the chair and is back playing with his friends. “---get paid?”

“What?” Tsukishima hadn’t been listening.

“How much do you get paid?”

“About 1200 yen an hour.”

“Oh what?” Kuroo jolts upright. “My aunt is totally ripping me off.”

Tsukishima snickers. “Maybe my services are just superior to yours.”

“That could be the case, goggles.” Kuroo smirks and lies back down, turning his head so he’s not staring straight into the sun, but staring straight at Tsukishima instead. “But I’d probably do it for free. She’s a single mom. I had a single dad. It’s hard. Need the help, ya know? Plus Shintarou’s really like, like I was at his age.”

“You - you were shy?” Tsukishima can’t believe it, not from the man who rallies the entire neighborhood into a made up game and comes and lies down next to relative strangers and dumps his life story. He looks straight ahead into the pool but swears he can feel Kuroo’s stare on his skin.

“I know. I’m so much more charming now. Hard to believe.”

“Not the word I would say.”

“Oya, and what would you say, then?”

Tsukishima clicks his tongue in response and Kuroo cackles, loud as ever.

Eventually Kuroo heads back to the pool. It’s quiet when he’s gone. Tsukishima doesn’t join in the game this time, but he doesn’t read either. He watches them all play, thinking about everything he’s just learned, processing the fact that loudmouthed muscle man is now “Kuroo with a cute cousin and a childhood and a college major who is thoughtful and a horrible flirt.”

When it’s time to leave, Tsukishima walks to the edge of the pool and catches Kuroo’s attention. “My name’s not glasses or goggles. It’s Tsukishima.”

“Cool. I’m still Kuroo.” And he has the audacity to wink.

Tsukishima groans and Kuroo laughs. “See you tomorrow, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima’s eyes roll so hard into the back of his head that he’s briefly afraid they’ll get stuck like that.

***

Kuroo seems hellbent on using the name “Tsukki” no matter how many times Tsukishima protests. He’s only ever had one friend call him that and he had to earn it. Not Kuroo, though. He thought of it and refuses to let it go. In fact, now that he’s conjured up the nickname, it’s as though he can’t speak to Tsukishima without using it.

It’s always --

“Tsukki, you going to play with us?”

“Tsukki, did you bring your goggles again?”

“Tsukki, we made up a new rule for the game.”

“Nice toss, Tsukki!”

“You have sunscreen streaks on your face, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima just grits his teeth and bears it until he hears --

“Tsukki, wanna come back to the pool tonight? A few of us hang out here after it closes.”

Tsukishima’s air drying on his favorite chair after swimming, eyes closed, the brim of his cap pulled low over his face. “After it closes?” He repeats, making sure he heard right.

He hears Kuroo sit down on the chair next to him, the legs of it scraping against the concrete. “Yea, it’s really nice at night.”

“What, do you jump the fence?” He asks, attitude pouring from each syllable.

“Well, yea.”

Tsukishima sighs, pulling his cap from his face. He glances over, his face pulled tight with disdain. “I’m not some idiot who jumps fences in the middle of the night to hang out with other people.”

Kuroo’s resting his forearms on his thighs, staring down at Tsukishima. He asks simply, “Why not?”

Tsukishima looks away, up at the umbrella above him. “Because it’s dumb.”

“Exactly.” Kuroo grins.

***

And because muscles and smirks on men who call him “cute” and annoy him with a nickname seem to cast some sort of spell over his normally rational mind, Tsukishima finds himself outside the pool gate later that night. 

As he walked up, he heard voices and wanted to turn back several times. He’s still not sure why he came. Half of it seems to be the fact that he does nothing all summer except work and read and a piece of him feels like he’s missing out on something. The other half is currently walking up to meet him.

“You came!”

Tsukishima sighs in response. “I did.”

“You need help getting over, Tsukki?”

“No.” Tsukishima throws his bag with his keys and a few other things over first, then jumps and pulls himself over, landing a bit less gracefully than he wanted, but still proud when he lands and sees a stupid, surprised grin etched on Kuroo’s face.

Kuroo whistles. “I thought you’d be too scrawny to manage that. Cute and strong. Nice.”

Tsukishima’s lost count of the times the past week that Kuroo’s called him cute. He hates that word. Hates it even more when it makes his insides twist together in an uncomfortably wonderful way.

Kuroo walks over to the edge of the pool and introduces him to the group. Tsukishima wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s just four other college-aged people floating around in the pool, a faint smell of cheap beer in the air. They look like they’re playing a lazy version of Kuroo’s usual pool game.

“Are you serious?” Tsukishima asks. “They play it, too?”

“Hell yea. Marco ball is going to be an olympic sport in, like eight years. You’ll see.”

“There’s already water polo.”

“This is better.”

Because there’s nothing else to do but sit on the edge and feel awkward, Tsukishima joins the game in progress. Kuroo puts him on his team. Tsukishima rationalizes that Kuroo seems to seek him out for tosses because they’ve played together with the kids so much in the mornings, but he can’t find a rational reason for Kuroo finding so many ways to be near enough to touch him.

Kuroo hovers close in the pool, their arms and legs bumping, despite the fact that it’s wide open. When he does swim farther away for a play, he shouts “Tsukki!” while the other people in the pool remind him to keep his voice down so they don’t get caught. When they take a break, Kuroo swims over to be right beside him, hardly any space left in between.

And there’s nothing rational about the way Tsukishima’s head is swimming with ideas that make his body feel warm and tingly as they float next to one another.

Tsukishima waits until the group’s conversation starts breaking off into pairs to make his exit. He swallows hard and comes to his senses. He spins around so he can grip onto the edge of the pool and pull himself out. Out of habit he walks over to his usual chair and wraps his towel around his shoulders.

It’s only a few moments before Kuroo’s right there, holding out a can. “You want a beer?”

“I’m not old enough.”

Kuroo laughs and Tsukishima feels his irritation growing.

“God you’re cute.”

The irritation fades away instantly, melts his brain to goo with that toothy grin looking down at him, but he pulls himself together. “Why do you keep saying that?” He snaps.

Kuroo sits down next to him, their knees almost touching. “Do you want me to stop?”

His voice is so close, Tsukishima feels his breath on his ear. He clicks his tongue and turns his head away. “Say whatever you want, I don’t care.”

Tsukishima feels something cold bump up against the back of his hand. He turns. It’s a soda, freshly pulled from the small cooler behind them. 

“Thanks.” After all, he still has his manners, even when he can’t decide if he wants to shove or make out with the man next to him on the creaky lounge chair.

Kuroo snaps open his beer and they sit together in what should be an uncomfortable silence, but it isn’t. Kuroo smells like chlorine and hair products, like leftover bits of sunscreen and cheap beer. And he’s very close. Somehow, without either of them moving much, their shoulders touch, knees bumping together gently. Tsukishima looks out over the fence into the night, wondering if the night really is this quiet or if he just can’t hear anything over his own heartbeat.

Kuroo breaks the silence first. He crushes his now-empty beer can and sets it down next to him. “You doing anything else this summer?”

Tsukishima takes a sip of his soda and shakes his head. “Family trip right before I go back to school, but no, not really.”

“You doing anything tomorrow?”

“Just babysitting Ryouta and Haruto.”

“After that?”

Tsukishima shrugs. “Probably reading. Might play some video games. I don’t know. I’m really not that interesting.”

“I think you are.”

Tsukishima stares straight forward, utterly terrified to turn and see the look on Kuroo’s face, the look that accompanied that drop in his voice that sent a shiver up Tsukishima’s spine.

He finds his voice, tries to redirect the conversation away from himself. “Why, what do you do after you drop off your cousin?”

“Hang with my friends, mostly, but tomorrow might be different.”

“Oh yea?”

“Yea, there’s this guy I want to take to dinner but I’m doing a really awful job asking.”

Tsukishima’s breath catches in his throat, his thundering heartbeat stutters. Beside him Kuroo grows still. Moments pass with them stuck together in silence.

“Me?” He finally asks, his voice sounding foreign in his ears.

Kuroo weakly chuckles. “Yea, yea you. See I told you I was doing a bad job asking. So, uh,” he clears his throat, “can I take you out tomorrow?”

Tsukishima turns his head and Kuroo’s face is right there in front of his, only a few inches separating them now. He nods, slowly remembering how to move, and Kuroo visibly relaxes.

“Oh,” he breaths out, “awesome. Any place you want to go in particular? If not, there’s this little diner place I really like. It’s got good comfort food.”

Tsukishima nods again, wondering where his ability to speak has gone. With effort, he remembers how to make words. “That sounds good.”

There’s a lot of awkward soft laughter on Kuroo’s part and a lot of stuttered breathing on Tsukishima’s part as they take out their phones and exchange contact information, picking a time to meet up.

Kuroo squints at his phone. “Kei? Or Hotaru?”

“You really think my name is ‘hotaru?’” Tsukishima shoots back, finding comfort in the familiarity of a quick retort.

“I don’t know! It could be.”

“It’s Kei,” Tsukishima looks at his own screen, “...Tetsurou.” He puffs out a laugh. “That’s an old man’s name.”

The conversation is choppy after that, but only because Tsukishima keeps forgetting what he’s talking about whenever Kuroo’s skin brushes against his. And judging by Kuroo’s reactions, he’s suffering the same fate. Eventually, Kuroo pulls himself away and cannonballs into the pool, starting up another game. Tsukishima sits on the edge, his feet dangling in the pool, half-playing but only when the ball lands right in front of him without him having to move.

As everyone starts trickling out, back over the fence and into the night, Kuroo stops beside him. “Which way do you live?”

Tsukishima looks at him, a little sad that his shirt’s back on now but happy his brain doesn’t short-circuit as much anymore, and points towards his end of the neighborhood.

“I’m uh, headed that way, too. Cool if we walk together?”

Tsukishima shrugs, faking a casual attitude he certainly doesn’t feel inside. “Fine by me.”

They start walking together with nothing but the sound of crickets and their feet shuffling along the sidewalk filling the air. 

Kuroo’s the first to speak, his eyes looking down the sidewalk lit only by a few streetlamps. “Weather’s nice tonight. Not too hot, still a little humid, though.”

Tsukishima snickers. “You’re commenting on the weather?”

“I don’t know what else to say!”

“Silence is fine.”

“So you don’t like the sound of my voice?”

Tsukishima turns his head to look at him. “It’s fine when you’re not yelling.”

Kuroo smirks back. “So you do like my voice.”

Tsukishima flashes a smirk of his own. “That’s not it either.”

That same routine repeats on the short walk back to Tsukishima’s house. Kuroo says something bland to fill the air. Tsukishima has a comment ready. Kuroo fires one back, seemingly trying his best to make Tsukishima’s blush climb up to his ears. Tsukishima’s grateful for the relative darkness around them.

When they reach Tsukishima’s house, he stops just before the path leading up to the front door. “Well, this is me. Where’s your house?” He asks, not knowing if he wants Kuroo’s house to be close or not.

Kuroo steps in front of him and shakes his head. “Oh, I live in the total opposite direction. I just wanted to walk you home.” He admits. In the dim streetlight, Tsukishima swears he can see pink across his cheeks, but at this distance he’s more concerned with the fact that he’s looking at Kuroo’s hair and thinking about how soft it looks, glancing down to see Kuroo’s lips and thinking over and over and over again that they look soft, too.

His eyes drift up and Kuroo’s looking at him, his gaze intense and unyielding. He watches Kuroo chew his bottom lip, let it go, sees him swallow hard, hears his breath shudder out in short bursts. Tsukishima knows he’s faring no better, can only imagine what his own face is doing right now. It’s embarrassing and time is frozen, totally frozen. He needs to feel like his feet are on the ground again so he closes his eyes and ends the stare, leaning forward onto his toes so their lips brush together.

It’s barely even a kiss before it’s over. He pulls back, eyes opening wide, wondering how the hell he just managed the nerve to do that.

Kuroo brings up a hand to graze along his bottom lip, his face slack in surprise. Gradually a smile builds until it’s stretched from ear-to-ear. “Cute and strong and surprising.” He says, his voice quiet.

Tsukishima feels a small smile form at the corner of his mouth. His lips feel warm from the memory of what Kuroo felt like against him a moment ago. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yea, tomorrow.”

Neither of them move. Moments pass, both of them trying not to stare.

Tsukishima reaches for his keys in his bag, the jingling breaking them both out of the spell.

“Looking forward to it.” Kuroo says, shoving both of his hands in the pockets of his trunks.

Tsukishima nods and takes his first step towards his front door. He looks back, giving a small wave from where his hands hang at his sides.

Kuroo waves back, looking every bit as stupid and silly as Tsukishima feels inside. 

“Good night, Tsukki.”

“It’s Tsukishima.”

“Yea I know. G’night, Tsukki.”

“Good night, Kuroo.”

Tsukishima unlocks his door carefully, his heart still hammering inside his chest. He tries to avoid all the creaky spots on the stairs as he creeps up to his room, but he honestly can’t hear anything. He just hopes no one’s awake so no one can see the dopey expression that’s no doubt plastered to his face.

Now the community pool brings back even more memories for Tsukishima as he lies in bed that night. Playing Marco Polo with Akiteru. Sunburns. Swimming competitions. Diving lessons. Stupid games. Late night swims. Kisses with crazy-haired loudmouths with soft lips and self-assured smirks.

**Author's Note:**

> THEY HAVE A GREAT TIME ON THEIR DATE AND END UP DATING AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
> 
> This is a twitter thread fic that took on a life of it's own. Seriously though, this idea wouldn't let me work on any of my WIPs until I got it out of my system.
> 
> Good thing fluff is so undeniably fun to write.  
> (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡
> 
> Thank you for reading. I hope it made you smile!
> 
> Chat with me on Twitter - [@HeyMellieJellie](https://twitter.com/HeyMellieJellie).


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